Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-08-29
LOFTY 1uMsLlNe.

Administration Coutorted Out OF All
Human SembIance.
Under a jamestown date Governor
Pierce writes as follows in the st. Paul
Pioneer Press:
There have been few funnier things
since the age of Artemus Ward, than the
staff contributors" letter about Audi
tor Ward, Examiner Harris and the
Yankton hospital fund. Not because the
subject 1t worth 1t, but purely as a mat
ter OF curiosity it will pay the reader to
examine it.
After berating editor Pierce" for
ssyingthat Ward had very senslbly can.
celed his first warrant, the staff contri-
butor says:
Auditor Ward never nude q decision
in this matter. The office In paying the
bills OF Examiner Harris, in charging up
the account, simply debited the wrong
account. It was a mistake that any
~bookkeeper might make. As soon as
Auditor Ward noticed the mistake he
fordefeu it changed to the proper 40
count.
Now there might be ground for sad.
ding the mistake on the deputy by say
ing that the '~of1ioe" made the error; that
MIR. Ward had nothing to do with it, and
as aoon as he discovered it, he flew like
a whirlwind and rectified it, etc., etc;
but there's a pesky letter of Wards in
the way of all this. The very week 1t
was charged that Harris had been paid
out of the hospital fund, and the very
SIN committed which is laid OF the door
of the Yankton trustees, Mr.. Ward
came out in a long latter 10 both the st.
Paul papers about the Yankton matter
ana closed 5y defending his action ID
paying the Harris account out OF that
fund. He said the law SO provided.
That effectually stopped him from ever
laying the blame on the deputy; but
now up pops the boss s'staff eontribu-
tor" and snpposlng the pubic has for
gotten sll sbout Wards confession.
swears by all that's great and good that
Ward Des;sr .asde any ruling at all, but
he:saw the mistake easily five blocks
away, and rectifiad it with one hLnd tied
behind his back.
| venture to say chat up to this point
the reader takes the situation, as state d
by the boss staff contributor, TO be this:
First-Harris rut IN his bill, which
"the office" Chat is, some clerk OF
deputy) charged up to the wrong ac-
count which in this instance was the
hospital fund.
Ward, who never had made
any ruling at all, saw the error afsr off
and, running at full speed, jumped on 1t
with both feet and Strengthened 1t ont.
Third-Pierce, who was filed with
envy and malice, reported that ward
had very sensibly Cancelled the warrant
paying Harris out of tho hospital fund"
when the fact was that Ward had simply
corrected the mistake of the office IN
charging the bill to the wrong account.
/ sey the reader will be under the i'm
D preston that such is the situation up To
this critical point, Bot it liz not. He is
mistaken. Here comes in the UNEQUAL
de bare-backed act, the homeless wonder,
the India rubber champion, who bounds
two hundred feet in mid-air and rsmainr
suspended by his own weight.
After declaring that there was q mis-.
!. take, that the original bill was charged
U to the wrong account, and that Ward
corrected it with soulful promptness,
b indicative OF lofty patriotism, the dizzy
!, performer informs us that there was nc
mistake; that it's ell q lie. Ward die
nothing of the kind. Merciful heavens
d can this be truel Well read. Here ii
; what the staff contributor goes on To
|. say;
Now, all this is said on the baeis tha'
: Auditor Ward has discovered that Their,
3 was q mistake in his office and corrected
L. 1t. The facts in the case are tina
Auditor Ward has not changed his rul
ing in this matter. The auditor ha
construed the law to read very plain
which is as follows: "And when peces
sery to employ stenographers or ~clerica
a help, the expense therefor shall be col
lected by the examiner from the count,
: or corporation in interest"
To understand, or rather to appreciat
h the above, it must be remembered tina
the paragraph quoted is the law who
Auditor Ward said was his authority TO
80 paying the examiner out of the hospitf
y fund in the first place. That was th
u Law under which the bills were Above
= and warrants issued and the secretary {
= the Yankton board notified. II it wa
Every plain" and is still very plain
where was the mistake? Yousay 9Th
p office ~ in paying the bills OF Examine
Ii. Harris, in charging up the accoun,
simply debited 1t to the wron
account. 1t was mistak
70 that any b%ookkeeper might make,
Ne but "as soon as Auditor Ward noticed
NJ he ordered it charged to the proper az
=. count" But how could the audit,
:, charge to the proper account tn
VI which was never in an improper accoun'
tie How could he correct q mistake tn
g, never occurred? How could he do an
10 thing of the kind when there was nothil
of the kind to do? We pause! '
=. wonder! we give it mp!
nm Was any warrant at all ever issuet
s HIS there really been an Investigate,
and bills and things? Have yon ev
paid Harris account? If you hav
what fund did yon pay it from origins
nia "? Did you ever cancel any warsan
9TH issued On one fund and pay it fro
B, another fund? Did the ''ofice" ey
ay make q mistake which the auditor 90
rected2 IT it did not, why do you q
quo that as soon as he noticed the error
I'd ordered it charged to the proper accoun
lii You ssem offended because the Phone
70. Press said that Mr.. Ward had We
sensibly Cancelled the warrant original
osa issued to Harris. Well, now, what d
otn he do? DO you know? Will you ts
b. certainly have no desire to misrep,
K. sent the matter. Isaid at the time ii
il was q mistake that might have be
made by the best OF tbe officials.
Aei' sometimes takes q pretty bin man to Q
.er- NIT q verb small error. thought WI
Try was equal to it, and be would havs be
lis: il the toss "stsf CONTRIBUTOR" had
said snay.. The latter is afflicted "
o strange deIusion that it is always b
sth to deaeiye people il possible. It was
D., much for him to confess that the SO